The Downside of Invincibility
by Drewsramblings
Summary: Logan gets a visit from a woman. She tells him of a side effect of his healing ability, which adds a major complication to his life at the Mansion. Definitely meant to be funny.
1. Ettie Matheson

This a comedy, or my version of it, which is more situational comedy than directly funny. Okay, so maybe it's a dramedy. Is that better?  
It's PG13 for indirect adult content. Fairly obviously I don't own Logan but I suppose I own Ms. Matheson. Not that I would mind if anybody else wanted to use her, but now it's time for the story:

……………………………………………………….

"Uh…there's somebody at the door for you." One of the younger kids, James Enknerr, was trying to get Logan's attention. He was the kind of kid who was mostly invisible, the kind who's naturally scared of a person like Logan. Chuck had been telling him that he had to work on noticing the kids who tried not to get noticed. This might be a good time to get the kid to talk a little.

"Hey, Enknerr, how you been lately? Been practicin' that runnin' on water thing?"

"Um…I'm actually pretty good at that now. But anyway, she looked kinda mad and she was asking for you."

Who would have been asking for him at the Mansion? He hadn't even told anyone he was there. He had only half-heartedly flirted with a couple of women since he had got there and hadn't told them where he lived. He didn't know anyone else. "What's she like? How'd she ask for me?"

"She's got three babies with her plus I think she's pregnant. She said she was looking for the Wolverine, Logan. I'm pretty sure that's you."

Logan had never noticed that Enknerr was sarcastic before. He wondered about that for a second or two before the situation hit him suddenly. A woman with kids, who knew him as Wolverine, and was waiting for him and was mad while she was doing it? A fight groupie? No matter what, it sounded hairy. "Hey, thanks."

When he got to the door he stopped and breathed in deeply to see whether her scent was familiar. Unfortunately he had a hard time picking her up over Enknerr and various other students and a trace of Jeannie. He turned the knob and jerked the door open quickly, both so that more of her scent would swirl in and so he could have a second to look at her before she started talking. It worked, but the information he gathered didn't tell him much. Both her scent and her appearance were just on the edge of familiarity. Of course, her scent was saturated with the smell of milk; probably both had been affected by having kids and he might not recognize her even if he had known her pretty well before she had kids.

"Well you look exactly the same. I'm not surprised somehow." She was smirking and her tone was not friendly. But as far as her looks went, she was not bad, and being noticeably pregnant made her look better, if anything. She was a classic blonde-hair-blue-eyes little thing, but he couldn't smell even a trace of hair dye on her and that made him feel a little better. She looked like she was in her late twenties, maybe.

"How's it goin'?" he asked to stall for time while he inspected the kids. There were three of them and they were all tiny. The boy didn't even look old enough to be walking but he was standing, clinging to the woman's leg. The girl was in a little carrier and was staring at him intently. The baby cradled in the woman's right arm was of indeterminate sex. He turned back to the boy and something in his eyes scared the crap out of Logan. There was something about those eyes that he saw every time he looked in a mirror.

"I didn't expect you'd remember me," said the woman, ignoring his question. "But I expected you'd be able to figure out at least part of the problem and it looks like I'm right again. He looks a lot like you for just a little thing, doesn't he?"

"Look, if you're sayin' he's my kid all I can say is in those days…"

"Not just him," she interrupted. He forgot what he had been about to say.

"What? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean he's yours, and so are these, and this one." She pointed at the boy then at the other two and then at her own bulging belly.

Logan considered slamming the door in her face. It had to be a scam. Damned if he knew how it worked but it had to be a scam. A damn stupid scam at that; she was actually trying to convince guys she'd had four kids by them? He couldn't think of anybody dumb enough to fall for that, except for maybe the worst alky or somebody.

"How about you stop standin' there like an idiot? A couple of those kids are listenin'."

He turned around and found, not unexpectedly, Will Connelly and Zach Mench. They were both friends of Enknerr's and damn brats. Connelly disappeared as soon as he turned but not many kids can do that and it didn't take a genius to figure out who it had been. Mench just ran, swearing.

When he turned back to the woman she was staring at him intently. "It was three years ago. Pike City. The infamous Wolverine. I knew it was you by the end of the first day. It was only 14 that day, but not one of 'em got up."

He was still close to slamming the door in her face but now he was curious, too. There would be a pretty good way of figuring out whether he had had a thing with her back in his cage days. "Give me your hand." He would have to settle for sweat, a woman's second-most memorable scent, but it would probably be good enough.

"What? Why?"

"Come on, just for a second."

She hesitated a few more seconds then shifted the baby in her arms a little and held out her other hand, palm up. He brought it to his nose. He could usually smell the sweat straight out of the gland, but in this case she was actually sweating a little, so he got a nice big whiff. He thought about it and slowly it clicked into place. Yes, he had had a thing with her back then. It had only been a one-time deal and he still didn't remember her name but that wasn't unusual. He focused a little harder and remembered that he had started with a rubber but afterward he wasn't finished and she had told him not to worry about it because it wasn't her time of the month or something. So maybe the boy was his kid. Teach him to listen to a woman about things like that.

"Can we come in?"

He looked from her to the boy to the girl then back to her. Then he gestured inside with his head and moved out of the way to let her pass. It took her a long time to herd her kids into the first empty room he happened to find, the classroom mostly used for English. It was used constantly throughout the school week but since it was now late Sunday morning the room was empty.

"So you're sayin' the boy is my kid?" He didn't know why, but he was giving her another chance to make the more believable claim of only one kid.

"Yes, him and the others."

Logan put his hand to his forehead. His knuckles were suddenly itchy for some reason.

"I even had 'em tested. It was at this big doctor's office in Toronto. My doctor, my normal doctor, told me to go and get tested to see if we could find anythin' and they told me that all four have the same genetic markers or whatever. Same father for all of 'em."

"So? So I'm not the father of any of 'em, then."

"No, you're the father of all of 'em. I don't know what you did to me but you are."

"What the hell?" He was trying to come up with the right way to ask for her to get the hell out when she interrupted him and for the second time made him forget what he was thinking.

"I haven't gone unprotected even once since that time with you."

"Um…"

"I know that sounds strange but it's true." She didn't seem quite so mad anymore. She sounded like she really wanted him to believe her. "I had a boyfriend when Raelee…"

"Raelee?"

"Yeah. Her." She pointed to the little girl in the carrier. "And there's Tyler and Brock," she indicated the boy and the baby in her arms, "and I haven't thought of a name for this one yet, but the genetic test people told me she's a girl."

Logan blinked a couple of times. Tyler was a semi-normal name at least. Even so he was feeling worse about this all the time.

"Anyway, what was I sayin'? Oh right, I had a boyfriend when I got pregnant with Raelee so we thought a rubber had just broken or something but when she was born we knew."

"Huh?"

She stared at him for a few seconds then sucked in air suddenly. "Oh, sorry. My boyfriend was black."

He looked back at the little girl, Raelee. Much as he hated to admit it, she was all white.

"Then I got pregnant with Brock and I hadn't slept with anybody at all since Raelee was born."

Logan's head was starting to hurt. There was no way for him to describe exactly how ridiculous this was to him. He had been willing to believe that Tyler was his kid but with the rest of it he was pretty sure that it was all nothing but crap. Of course, at this point she was sounding pretty desperate. What if she was just a fight groupie who had had one too many accidents and was looking for one of her old flings to take care of her, put up some dough? And she had somehow found out that he had got a steady job at a school and she had decided that he was better than any of the other guys, who were probably still out running around in the cage fighting scene. It made sense to him but it didn't make it any easier on him. It was pretty clear that she was sticking to her story and wouldn't just let go of it no matter what he said. She had probably practiced her story all the way there.

"May I speak with you a moment, Logan?" the voice was the professor's and he found himself whipping around to look for the man himself before remembering that he was telepathic and quite often spoke into people's minds.

"Just a second," he said to the woman and left the room. When the door was closed behind him he breathed a little sigh of relief. It was almost too much; a couple of years before he already would have been using his claws in a situation like this.

The professor wheeled around the corner and up to where he stood. "I would like you to know that I have recently become aware of your meeting. I have sensed, in fact, that both of you are experiencing a high level of stress. I think I may be able to help."

"So you could hear her, Professor? What the hell…what's she thinkin'?"

"It is not my policy to invade personal privacy, but I can tell you that she honestly believes that you are the father of all of her children."

"But that's…not possible. Can you explain that to her?"

"I agree that it seems highly unlikely, but I am unwilling to completely rule out the possibility as yet."

"Are you sayin' you think they might be my kids? When I…slept with her only once?"

"I know a way that we might be able to determine." He paused, and Logan waited, confused. "If the test fails we will be no closer to the truth but if it succeeds we will know."

"What? What test?"

"We must test whether the children share your unusual healing ability."

"You're goin' to cut 'em or something?"

"I do not intend to cause any serious injuries. Please, may I see your arm?"

Logan held out his arm. The professor held something to it and made a little slicing motion. It was a small piece of stiff paper and where it cut him it stung just a little bit. He looked down and saw that a single drop of blood had formed at one end of the cut. Then, as he watched, it closed up. He wiped the drop of blood off on his shirt sleeve.

"Very well," said the professor. The two of them went back into the room, where the woman was calming down a fussing baby.

"I am going to perform a test on Tyler," said the professor as he rolled up to the boy. "It might sting for a moment but that will be all."

"Why?" asked the woman, and started to shift so she could stop the professor.

"Just let him," said Logan, and she complied.

The test was over in seconds. The cut appeared, spread slightly, stopped, shrunk, and disappeared completely.

"What?" said the woman. "You mean…" she stopped. "When he got that bruise and it disappeared…what?"

The professor laughed lightly. "There is no need to worry, nor is there need to be confused. Logan has the ability to heal very quickly, much more quickly than you or I. He has passed along this ability to Tyler and to the others, I would guess." He performed a similar test on Raelee and her little cut disappeared just as quickly as Tyler's had.

"But that doesn't explain how in the…how it happened." said Logan.

"Actually, I think it does," contradicted the professor. "I think you passed along your near-invincibility directly." Logan and the woman both stared at him. "Well, spermatozoa cells normally have a very short lifespan, especially in such a hostile environment, but if yours possess an ability anything like you yourself possess then perhaps they would be able to survive much longer, possibly years."

"You're jokin'." The professor had certainly chosen a strange time to reveal his practical joker side.

"As completely crazy as everythin' you just said sounded, it's made the most sense of anythin' I've heard since the beginning of all this," said the woman. She chuckled. "And I'll be damned if these guys ain't the toughest babies you ever saw. Tyler especially. Never cries. That was why I knew he was yours in the first place."

At the moment Logan wasn't sure he trusted himself to have interpreted that correctly.

"And you're sayin' you have this ability to heal real fast? So I was right?"

"'Scuse us again for a second," said Logan. He walked out without another look back and waited for the professor to join him in the hall.

"You're jokin'. I can't take this. I don't even remember her name!"

"Calm down, Logan. One step at a time. I know this is a shock to you but stay calm. First of all, I have taken the liberty of figuring out her name: Ettie Matheson. Now, we will let the two of you take a little time apart to consider the information you both have just acquired, and tonight we will decide on the next step. I will see to Ettie and will ensure that her children are fed and rested. Now, please take an hour for yourself."


	2. Leanna

Somehow he got back to his room and fell onto the bed. His cage days were playing in front of his eyes. A brutal fight here, a whole bottle of whiskey there, an uncontrolled romp with a random fight groupie here, a fistful of cash there. He tried to remember that name, Ettie Matheson. It seemed just as almost-familiar as her scent and her face. Of course, their names had never been what he remembered of them. He thought about it and could only come up with a few names, like Juanita, Leanna, Sarah Denise...but they were only the really unusual and strange cases. No, the name didn't add anything to what he knew about her. Looking back on it he could almost picture it, but he still thought the memory triggered by smelling her sweat was the most accurate.  
  
There was a strong knock on the door, one that he recognized subtly as Jeannie's when she was trying to seem confident. Then it opened and the red- headed doctor herself appeared.  
  
"Hi there. Feeling any better?"  
  
"Red. You finally come to tell me how you really feel now you have some competition?" Now matter how tired his brain was he could manage a flirt for Jeannie.  
  
She smiled in recognition of his efforts. "No. But I did come to tell you something about this 'competition' besides wondering whether you were feeling any better."  
  
"What's that?" he asked, again ignoring her question.  
  
"Well, the only reason I know at all is that woman projects more than anyone...or maybe just around you...but anyway at first she was angry and was calling you all kinds of nasty things in her thoughts."  
  
Logan laughed; something about the way she said that reminded him a lot of a child.  
  
"But later she lost her anger and she started to remember how much she liked you back then. Or maybe I should say it this way: she loved you back then. There was no way for you to know but she was never a groupie in the sense that she didn't sleep with any of the other guys. Basically she's thinking by now that she loves you again and is thinking of using the kids as leverage to get you to settle down with her. I'm telling you only because I think you have the right to know so you can choose objectively for yourself."  
  
He sat and blinked at her. "Well thanks, Jeannie, that made it a whole lot easier for me to accept all this."  
  
"Sorry. I wouldn't have, but it really is important for you to figure out what you're going to do, before Ettie has a chance to work on you."  
  
"What do you mean what am I gonna do? About what?"  
  
"Well, you have at the very least 4 kids. And if this a common phenomenon then you may have a whole lot more, like 40 or 50. It depends on how many women you went unprotected with, I guess."  
  
The number hit Logan hard and bounced around in his head for a little while. Fifty kids. Almost as many kids as there were at the Mansion. Or it could be worse, more kids than at the Mansion!  
  
"I doubt you're going to be able to give them all money, anyway," continued Jean once she realized he wasn't going to answer her implied question, "much less support. Are you going to ignore them and leave it at that?"  
  
"Well, they did know what they were gettin' themselves into at the time," said Logan, snapping out of his trance just a little.  
  
"Did they? There wasn't even one little girl who was infatuated with the big tough cage champion without realizing the consequences?" She managed to make it exactly half way between a compliment and an insult.  
  
He let some of those older memories wash over him for a few seconds, then regretted it. Leanna. Why did she have to bring up Leanna? It had been in a nothing town in Saskatchewan, only six months after he had started in the cage fighting set. Here had been this girl – she had said she was nineteen but afterwards he had realized that she was probably younger, maybe a lot younger – who had been exactly what he had needed after a crappy day. Then the very next day she had said she was pregnant. He had ignored her, but she hadn't let it go. He saw her for over a week before her claims of pregnancy had gotten to him and he had left the nothing town. She followed him after a couple weeks, so he left and she followed him again. Now she was not only annoying but also completely throwing him off. One night after he had had a really bad day – he had already killed some bastard in the cage – he had faced her once and for all and had threatened to show her the real reason he was called the Wolverine. She left and he hadn't seen her since but she had always stuck out in his mind. She had never looked pregnant any time while he knew her so he had always assumed she had been full of crap, but what if she had known something he hadn't?  
  
"I take it that look is not a good sign?" Jean brought him back to the present.  
  
"Naw, it's nothing."  
  
"Well I saw a little of that so now I know you're lying."  
  
"So I thought of a case that may be a little like you just said, but it ain't like I can do much about it."  
  
Silence settled on the room. This was about as serious as he had ever let it get between Jeannie and himself. But at the moment he couldn't see any good ways to lighten the mood.  
  
Then it got worse as Jean frowned in preparation for speaking. "As the school's doctor I have to ask you this question, but please don't think anything bad of it: have you ever had sex with any of the students of this school?"  
  
"No."  
  
She breathed a sigh of relief barely audible to even him. "Not even Rogue?"  
  
He smiled. "Especially not Rogue." After he had given up on Alkali Lake and finding anything useful about his past he had joined the cage fighting circuit again for a few weeks before ending up at the Mansion again. When he got back Marie had run to him and looked at him in that very particular way, but he didn't even have to worry about letting her down easy because Frosty the Snowboy came in and stood himself right between them. Logan had laughed the whole thing off.  
  
"Good, because it would be especially bad, what with them being younger and able to have more children..."  
  
She was still looking so worried that Logan couldn't help but tease her. "That's right, nothing to worry about – Rogue and I always went protected, with her mutation and all."  
  
Her jaw dropped, then she picked it up again and slapped at him. "That isn't something to joke about."  
  
"You just didn't look like you'd be satisfied till you got some answer like that, that's all."  
  
"Sorry." She got serious again. "No, really, I'm sorry. I should have known."  
  
"Naw, back in my earlier cage days I wouldn't've thought twice."  
  
"Well I know, but you've come a long way since those days. That's why you couldn't stay long when you went back to it."  
  
"Yeah." He looked away from the pretty doctor. "Not like I'm some gentleman now; I'm still gonna end up abandonin' those kids...Leanna."  
  
"Leanna? Was that the girl you were thinking about before?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well you don't have to abandon them, you know."  
  
He looked back at her again. If it had been anyone other than Jeannie he would have made a very sarcastic comment.  
  
"No, I'm serious. Okay, so you can't marry them all assuming it is more than just Ettie, but you can do something. Track them down, at least, and bring all the kids here. They're mutants, after all, so they'll belong. In fact you could bring everybody here and I'm sure the professor would be willing to help them make rent on an apartment around here somewhere, where they could come and get help with their children from the Mansion whenever they need it."  
  
Now Logan was distinctly uncomfortable. The idea of having some kind of apartment complex filled with his old flings and hordes of kids all looking like him made shivers run down his spine. What if some of them tried to move in with him or something? Without being in any way arrogant he could say that at the least Ettie, Leanna, and Sarah Denise would be all over him if they were there and it wasn't impossible for every one of them to be all over him. He did not like the idea of being in the middle of that kind of war, no matter what he said while he was flirting with Jean.  
  
"Well you don't sound too thrilled, so forget that for now," continued Jeannie. "At the least you have to figure out how many women it's happened to."  
  
"How you want me to do that?"  
  
"Retrace your cage fighting circuit?"  
  
"Do you want me gone that bad?" He was teasing again, but this time it was to cover up real uncertainty. Or was it fear?  
  
"You know we'll always have a place for you here, but I do think this is important. Can you at least sort through back issues of the local newspapers? Things like women getting pregnant without any help are enough to make the papers, even in large towns. Or maybe if not the headlines then someone will have put out a Personals ad or something."  
  
"I don't know, Red, the towns you're talkin' about ain't exactly news capitals. I don't think many of them had a newspaper and they'd be too far away to be covered by the big city papers either."  
  
"Well there has to be some way." Her cheeks were starting to get red and he could make out a little more blood in her scent, like she was one step away from yelling. "You at least remember their names, right? Or some of them?"  
  
"A few, yeah."  
  
"Then we can look them up online and at least see if they're in a phone book somewhere."  
  
"I don't know if they'd be..."  
  
"Follow me," said Jeannie, interrupting him. She pulled on him with her power so he gave up and got off the bed. They walked to the science classroom – the closest room with a computer – and Jeannie sat down at the computer desk. While she booted it up and tinkered with it, Logan stared out the window. There was no way she would be able to find any of them, right? How could they be on the Internet?  
  
"Give me a name," ordered the doctor. "Leanna what?"  
  
"I don't remember." He thought he could remember that it was Scandinavian – maybe Anderson or something like that – but the way he saw it he would be better off anyway if she couldn't find the girl.  
  
She made a noise of exasperation. "Fine. Where is she? What province, at least?"  
  
Logan considered not remembering that either, but something in her face told him it would be in his best interest to remember at least that much. "Saskatchewan."  
  
"Well, there can't be that many Leannas in Saskatchewan." There was a pause. "Okay, look over the list and tell me if any of them are familiar."  
  
Logan looked at the list. There were four names on it, and one of them caught his attention immediately: Leanna Ingersen. That had to be her. Then he looked at the location, and did a double-take; it said Saskatoon. Leanna was definitely not in a city as large as Saskatoon.  
  
"What is it? You recognize one of them, don't you?"  
  
"I don't think so. She was never in Saskatoon."  
  
"Saskatoon...but her last name was Ingersen?"  
  
"...Maybe."  
  
Within seconds the site was gone and another, a search engine, was in its place. She typed in the name and hit the button. Logan looked out the window again.  
  
"Huh? Uh oh." By the time Logan turned to look what had caused the red- haired doctor's exclamation she had already clicked on another page. Then, as he watched, this other page resolved, and Logan's heart stopped. 'This web-page is dedicated to the wonder that is the Virgin Mother resurrected' were the words at the top, and underneath, in huge, flowery letters, was her name: 'Leanna Ingersen.' Jeannie clicked on the link to get into the site, and Logan sat down at a desk near by. He didn't need this.  
  
"She has six kids. I guess the last one is the prophet."  
  
"Jesus."  
  
Suddenly Red laughed. "They've got video footage! She volunteered to be on camera 24/7 after the birth of the fifth kid, Kyle. I guess she never even went near a man."  
  
"Jesus."  
  
"She's living in Saskatoon now. Wait...is this a cult? Yes, yes it is. She has followers. And guess what she named the sixth kid?"  
  
"Jesus."  
  
She turned to look at him. "You got it."  
  
"Does this mean I don't have to bring her here?" 


	3. Marcie Herbert

After his conversation with Jean, Logan walked back to his room. He sat down on the bed, then realized that exactly the same thing would probably happen again. He had to get out of there and go somewhere they wouldn't be able to find him for a couple of hours. He only needed a couple of hours, he was sure.  
  
He made it downstairs and to a side door undetected. He slipped out and started for the training center. It was separate from the main building and even though it was known for being where he went when he wanted to be alone that didn't mean somebody could find him there. He knew a hiding spot or two in there, ones no one else knew about.  
  
He didn't even make it across the grass to his little haven. And what was worse, it was Jubilee who called to him.  
  
"Wolvie! Where you going?" She and a couple of the other older girls walked up to him. He considered growling and leaving anyway but he definitely didn't want these girls, of all people, to suspect something. Then they would never leave him alone.  
  
"Wolvie? Are you still lookin' for me to rearrange your face?"  
  
"You'd do that for me? What a guy!"  
  
"So, why aren't you in there with them?" asked Kitty Pryde.  
  
He just stared at her.  
  
"I mean with Tyler and Raelee and Brock," she continued, "I mean, how can you not love them? They're so cute! And Tyler looks so much li..."  
  
"Stop!" he ordered, cutting her off. "Don't say another word."  
  
"But they..."  
  
"What did I say?" snapped Logan.  
  
"Damn. Somebody's grumpy!" put in Jubilee. "You'd think he didn't like being a daddy, or something."  
  
"You know, she's pretty hot," added Amanda Carlson, "You got a good catch there. Can we come to the wedding?"  
  
Now he knew they were trying to annoy him. "This isn't a real good time, you know. This is one of those times when you end up saying something like, 'But we were only joking; we never thought he'd actually kill anybody.'"  
  
"You're gonna kill us?" asked Amanda menacingly. She looked at him hard. He could smell the anger on her.  
  
Remembering her power, he broke the eye contact. "And I don't need any of that bull either." He walked away from them, toward the training center again.  
  
Once he got inside he sat down in a corner of the main room and tried not to think about anything. He failed. How the hell was this going to work out? Would his life ever be stable again?  
  
He had gotten used to the Mansion, he realized suddenly. He had never stayed in one place for long, and he had just accepted that as a part of him; he was a drifter. But he had found a place at the Mansion, a space where he just stayed, without even thinking about it. And now that was probably gone, especially if they just let any of the girls walk in and make themselves comfortable. He didn't put it past Chuck to offer Ettie a teaching job too. And any others.  
  
So he'd leave. He'd leave the Mansion and live on his own, like he had all those years. But he stayed sitting. It wasn't that easy anymore. He remembered what Jeannie had said, that he had changed since his cage days. How much had he changed? So much he couldn't even live by himself? No damn way.  
  
He stood up, walked to the door, and stopped without opening it. Then he turned around and released his claws. The pain made him feel better, so he pulled them in and released them again. He was still the Wolverine, wasn't he? Nobody could beat him, especially not a baby or three. He turned back around and whipped the door open. Amanda Carlson fell into his arms. He threw her onto her feet.  
  
"What...the...hell?"  
  
"We just wanted to see what's up with you," explained Jubilee. "You looked kinda off about something."  
  
"You were listenin' to me?"  
  
"Well...Kitty was watching you but she was afraid you'd see her if she got too close."  
  
He pushed past them and walked back to the main building. He just had to get his things. He opened the door and immediately caught a strong whiff of someone he didn't want to deal with at the moment.  
  
"I'm sorry to barge in on you," said Ettie. "I didn't mean...I just wanted to see you, is all."  
  
"Well, look, Ettie, I..." He stopped. Her kids weren't with her. She wasn't about to leave if she didn't have her kids. "Where are...you know, your kids?"  
  
"Well, some of the girls kinda took to 'em. They're in...one of those rooms over there." She pointed to her left. "There's too many rooms in this place."  
  
Logan stared at her for a few seconds. "How did you find this place?"  
  
She shrugged. "How'd you? I just asked a friend of mine who knew some people and he told me your real name was Logan. From there it wasn't that hard to find you."  
  
He blinked. He was picked up in the middle of the Canadian wilderness and flown to an underground laboratory in New York and that wasn't that hard to find?  
  
"Your name goes pretty far still, you know. You show up in BC two months after disappearing out of Manitoba and people notice."  
  
That made a lot more sense: she had followed his trail back from Alkali Lake.  
  
"That's the first time you called me by my name," said Ettie.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Just a minute ago, you said my name. Did you...remember me?"  
  
"Of course. How many...relationships you think I had? It took me a minute, that's all."  
  
"Oh." Her scent was stronger than ever now. Why would that be? Would she be sweating more now for any reason?  
  
"So, you said you had a boyfriend a couple years back, when you had..." He couldn't remember which kid she had mentioned.  
  
"Tyler and Raelee. I got together with him while I was pregnant with Tyler and we stayed together until...well, till I got pregnant with Brock."  
  
"It was because of...Brock, then?"  
  
"Well, it was really because of Raelee, you know, because of her bein' white. He thought I cheated. And then I got pregnant with Brock..." She shrugged.  
  
"Sorry." It wasn't like he did it on purpose or anything, so there was no reason that he should feel sorry, but it was still crap luck. It wasn't her fault or the boyfriend's fault either, just crap luck.  
  
"You never answered me," said Ettie, "How did you find this place? It's...somethin' else." She looked around, gawking. A lot like he had his first couple days at the Mansion.  
  
"I didn't. It found me. The Professor – the guy in the wheelchair from earlier – he's interested in people who...who can do unusual things."  
  
"Like have their skull cracked open and keep fighting?" She smiled at him.  
  
"Yeah. Did you see that? Where was that?"  
  
"Pike City, the second day you were there. I remember you were bleedin' all over and then I realized that I was seein' your skull and a little bit of your brain...I near died."  
  
"You near died?"  
  
She blushed. "Well, I...you know what I mean. I thought you were gonna die. I know I hadn't even met you yet, but I thought I'd die too if you did right there in that cage. But you didn't. You didn't even leave the cage." She shook her head. "I should've known right then."  
  
"Known what?"  
  
"I don't know; all of this. I should've known you'd do this to me, I guess. Nobody's that tough."  
  
Logan just looked back at her. It didn't sound like a school for mutant kids was the place for her if she reacted bad to him having a healing ability.  
  
"So everybody here is like you, then? Not like you, I mean, but they can do somethin' nobody else can?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
She looked down at her hand. "I wish I could do somethin' nobody else can."  
  
Logan was busy trying to come up with some kind of response to that when Jeannie showed up and signaled to him. Then she walked up to him and whispered in his ear, "If you can get away for a second or two there's something else you need to see." Then she walked to the end of the hall and waited for him.  
  
"I...um...'scuse me," he said to Ettie. As he walked over to where Jeannie was standing he felt like his legs weighed twice as much as usual. And it only got worse as they continued to walk.  
  
As he feared, their journey ended at exactly the same classroom where they had discovered Leanna's website earlier that day.  
  
"Oh, I should mention," said Jeannie as she led him over to the computer, "the Professor is contacting Leanna Ingersen right now."  
  
"What?" he started. Then he was distracted by what was on the screen. It was an article, one that looked pretty official. It had a picture with it, of a woman completely surrounded by babies. He tried to tell himself that she was in no way familiar but it didn't quite work; he had seen her somewhere. He tore his eyes away from her image and looked back to the text. It was an article about a new world record: the woman had had a set of quadruplets every year for four years in a row. By the time he read that much Logan could no longer swallow. Then he read her name, and felt a little better. He didn't recognize it at all: Marcie Herbert.  
  
"Have you read it?" asked Jean.  
  
"Yeah, but what is this? I don't recognize the name at all."  
  
"Well, wait a second." She clicked a link, followed by another. When the new page resolved she gestured for him to look again.  
  
He was looking at a sketch of himself. And even if the hair and the chin and everything else weren't enough to distinguish him, it said underneath, 'He goes by the name "The Wolverine."'  
  
"What...what is that?"  
  
"She's looking for you. Marcie Herbert, the woman who had four sets of quadruplets. She started up a site when she set the world record and that's most of it: everything she has on how to find you."  
  
"She should've talked to Ettie." They were the only words that would come out, and the only way to stop himself from going on a screaming rampage.  
  
"Logan." She stared at him until he came out of his trance and looked back at her. "This is important, far more important than Leanna starting a cult. Do you see that?"  
  
"What? Now they..." He was still forcing himself not to go on a rampage.  
  
"No, they won't all be like that. That's why she holds a world record. But it does mean that with you it's more likely for women who have twins running in their families to end up with multiple births. Or there's a strong possibility, anyway. I don't have any science to back that up, unfortunately."  
  
"Sixteen."  
  
"Yes, sixteen belonging to Marcie Herbert. That's twenty-six, including Ettie's unborn child. There is little chance that that child will not survive birth."  
  
"Twenty-six."  
  
"Now, Logan," said Jean calmingly, "I know this hard to take, but you're doing very well."  
  
Rather than yell at her he stood up and walked out. She called after him and even held onto him with her power but he ignored her words and pulled out of her mental grip. He walked straight down the stairs and made for the same side door that he had used to get to the training center, completely forgetting about Ettie.  
  
"You're back," she said once he came into view. "What's the matter?"  
  
He looked at her, considering letting his claws do the talking. But then he shook the thought out of his head. Crap luck. She had had crap luck too. He couldn't take it out on her.  
  
"Look, if that was about another woman...or women, then I have an idea."  
  
"What? Oh, Jean? She's the school doctor."  
  
"Oh. Is somethin' wrong?"  
  
"No. She's the school doctor but she's also a friend and...never mind."  
  
"Well anyway, if it was about other women I have an idea."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, you won't have the problem anymore if you say you're already involved with somebody. Me, for example."  
  
Logan found himself with another big whiff of Ettie's scent. More sweat. She was that nervous. Fortunately for him the scent cleared his head a bit. He smiled. "You came here to meet me?"  
  
"Well, yes."  
  
"And to get me to shell out some cash?"  
  
"No!" She was blushing again. "Or...not specifically. It wasn't about money."  
  
Logan was still considering her when he saw it: an ear, sticking out of the wall about ten feet behind Ettie. He blinked, just to be sure he wasn't seeing things, then crept up to it while Ettie stopped and watched. When he got nice and close he said, in a voice just under a yell, "Kitty!" The ear disappeared immediately.  
  
"What? An ear?"  
  
"Well..." Logan started. He couldn't really come up with any reason why there might have been an ear sticking out of the wall.  
  
"The walls have ears," said Professor Xavier as he rolled up behind them.  
  
"I was hopin' to avoid the pun," said Logan.  
  
"Miss Matheson," said the Professor, "I'm sure that as fascinated as the students were with your children, it would probably be best for you to check up on them now."  
  
"Oh, crap! Excuse me." Ettie disappeared.  
  
"What now?" asked Logan.  
  
"I have spoken with Leanna. She does not believe she is the Virgin Mary, nor does she believe her youngest child is Jesus Christ. It is, as you would say, a scam. She said she would like to see you but that her children are being taken care of and so not to worry about them. I invited her for a visit."  
  
"You...what?"  
  
"There is also good news," said the Professor, holding up a hand. "Leanna's youngest child is now two years old. She has not had any other children since then. In other words, your spermatozoa have a lifespan after all, simply one that is much longer than any others. Six years may well be the limit."  
  
The only response Logan made was the sound of his claws as they came out, retracted, and came out again. 


	4. Juanita

Okay, so I'm a little late but I made up for it in quantity and quality. I swear. Anyway, the PG-13 is pretty definite on this chapter, with heavy doses of indirect adult content and also some adult language.  
.........................................................................................  
  
Logan got about an hour of sleep that night, in seven pieces. Every time he would get to sleep he would have the same nightmare: every kid at the Mansion looked like a little version of him, so he ran outside, but he still couldn't see anything except three of four blocks full of his kids. And while Logan was no stranger to nightmares, even ones that woke him up in the middle of the night, these were beyond any he had ever had before. And the worst thing about them was that they were constantly getting closer to the truth. How many new kids would he discover today? How many new women would be looking for him?  
  
The first thing Logan did when he got up in the morning was figure out whether Ettie had spent the night. She had. The second thing he did was to go back to his room and collect up everything he thought he had the right to take from the Mansion and put it in a bag. When he was finished, he estimated he could be out the door in less than a minute. Still, he couldn't leave quite yet. He still had the morning's classes to teach.  
  
His first class of the day was the worst class he had ever had in his time as a teacher. None of the kids were paying any attention; they were too busy gossiping or teasing him about Ettie and all of his newly discovered kids.  
  
"Who told you?" he demanded of a girl by the name of Michelle Kwong about half way through the class. "How did you find out about Leanna and that other woman?"  
  
Michelle had gone completely silent under his anger, but another student had let him in on their source: Jubilee and Kitty Pryde, just like he had thought. He had spent the next few minutes muttering obscenities. Then he had tried to go back to teaching but had had no success whatsoever.  
  
By 1:00 P.M. he was ready to leave. Now he just had to let the Professor and everyone else know. He found Jeannie first.  
  
"I was thinkin' about what you said yesterday, I and I've decided to go back over where I went when I was on the cage circuit."  
  
The doctor looked surprised. "Oh. Well, that's good. You really do need to find out how many women have had the problem."  
  
"Well, if that's it I'm leaving now."  
  
"No, wait," she said, holding up her arm to stop him. He swore silently to himself. "I think it's a good idea but hold on just a few hours. I'll go with you."  
  
Now it was Logan who was surprised. "You will?" This was not good. He needed a way to keep her at the Mansion. It wasn't long before he found one. "What about the kids? You're the only doctor here, and these kids can't go a day without somebody gettin' hurt."  
  
"I thought of that, but as it happens the Professor solved that problem less than an hour ago. He invited another doctor over, and he has agreed to stay for a couple of months, at least. He will be able to patch up any injuries."  
  
"Another doctor?" It hadn't even crossed his mind. "But...do you think it's a good idea for you to be there? These are my old flings we're talkin' about."  
  
Jeannie turned a little red. "I don't see any reason I shouldn't be there. I don't fear them, and I thought you would prefer for them to believe that you are no longer single."  
  
"Is that a proposition?"  
  
"Logan. It's just that...it's just that this is very important to me. Can you understand that? I will play a part, if it will make it easier for you to actually go through with this. We really need to know how large a problem this is."  
  
"Scooter's gonna love this." It was his last chance to convince her not to come with him. He hated having to drive Jeannie off and, even more so, having to bring One-Eye between them to do it, but it was his only option left.  
  
"I'll talk to him. Don't worry; Scott won't be coming."  
  
She was too determined. That left him without any options. He was standing there, wracking his mind for more excuses, when he was rescued by a visit from Storm.  
  
"You have a call, Logan."  
  
At first he was relieved for the distraction, then he realized that there was a good chance that this was more bad news. "Who is it?"  
  
"She did not give me her name. She said she was a friend of yours, who knows of your trouble and would like to help you."  
  
Logan had no idea who that could have been, but he figured it would be better to talk to them than to have to talk to Jeannie anymore.  
  
He found the nearest phone. As he picked up the receiver he remembered why he so rarely used the phone: he couldn't smell a thing over it. A phone conversation was like trying to figure out a puzzle with half the pieces missing. But it was too late to avoid it now. "Hello?"  
  
"Wolverine! My favorite chew toy!" sang the woman on the other end in a slight Spanish accent. He knew he recognized it, so he thought about it and clicked it into place.  
  
"Ah crap. Juanita Gutierrez."  
  
"You remember me!" she said with a sweetness to her voice that was about as real as the Easter Bunny. "It's been so long! Hey, you know how much money you owe me?"  
  
"Look, Juanita, I..."  
  
"Seven abortions' worth," she interrupted.  
  
"Seven! It was one last time!" There was no way, just no way that she could know. She couldn't.  
  
"You're very right; it was one last time. And now it's seven."  
  
"How? How did you get this number?" Logan felt like his brain was shutting down. It seemed to do that a lot when he talked with Juanita.  
  
"Well, now, that is a funny story. And what the hell, I might as well tell it to you. See, it all started when I was in a tiny little bit of trouble and needed to lay low for a month or two."  
  
"Christ, Juanita."  
  
"...So I ran into this group of people, the Church of the True Resurrection. Now, this is a funny little group that worships a girl, name of Leanna Ingersen."  
  
"No."  
  
"I thought you might recognize her name. So anyways, this group turns out to be not too bad at laying low, making fake IDs, that sort of thing. So I decide, what the heck? Then, a couple of weeks later, I have this chance to talk to the girl herself, and what do I find out? She had her heart broken by some old jerk, name of Wolverine. So I file that away, you know, and stick around, and that carries us up to this morning. This morning I happen to see Her Holiness and she happens to tell me she's about to hop on her plane – private plane; not bad for a backwoods girl, is it? – to fly over to see this old jerk. The reason? They're his kids, all six. Suddenly everything's clear to me, and I take it into my head to get the number from her and call this old jerk up myself."  
  
Logan couldn't seem to get any words out.  
  
"And I think you know the story from there. Seven abortions, isn't that a laugh?"  
  
"I don't owe you bullcrap."  
  
"Bullcrap? I guess I have to agree; you owe me a fuck of a lot more than that."  
  
"Juanita..."  
  
"Do you have any clue what it's like to get an abortion?" She finally dropped her fake sweetness. "Any clue at all? Because it isn't the most fun experience in the world. In fact, I would be happy to describe it to you. So you start by finding..."  
  
"What do you want from me?" demanded Logan.  
  
"I don't know, what ever could I want from you?"  
  
"Do you think there's anything I could do? You think I knew? You think I thought it would be funny?"  
  
"Damn right I do! I know you knew." Logan tried to butt in but she talked over him. "I know you knew and you just went around from bar to bar fucking anything that would stay still long enough so you could spread your nice special genes all over the country. Oh wait, you're in New York now; make that the whole goddamn continent!"  
  
"That's the last thing I..."  
  
"You're not even worth the effort." She said it in such a way that he couldn't help but shut up, stunned. "It's not even worth my time to try to track your ass down and set you straight. So you know what? Screw it. Water under the bridge. Go ahead and play your game over there in the States and leave me the hell alone and that will be the end of it. All you have to do is give me what you owe me."  
  
"I told you I'm not gonna..."  
  
"I'm not even listening to you anymore. Now, let's see, that will be $2000..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"...Per time."  
  
"You..."  
  
She continued to talk over him. "That's $14000, and just to make it easy on you let's make that US dollars, not Canadian."  
  
It was time to hang up the phone. There was no talking to Juanita. There had never been any talking to Juanita.  
  
"But before you hang up," she said, returning to her false sweetness, "there's one more thing you'll want to know."  
  
He stayed on the line, but if she said even one more word about money or owing her a damn thing...  
  
"See, my new friends - the Church of the True Resurrection - they're good Christians, so they feel it's part of their duty to destroy the evil of the world when they can. And that includes abominations against God. Mutants, for example."  
  
"You didn't..."  
  
"Didn't what? Didn't accidentally let your little problem slip to them? Oops. And the funny thing is, they got real excited when I mentioned it. I guess they didn't like the idea of their Holy Mother coming to visit an abomination against God. Seems to me they should be leaving about now, come to think of it. I can't say exactly how many of 'em, but if I had to guess I'd say 20, maybe 30."  
  
"You bitch."  
  
"Maybe I am a bitch, but I never forced anybody to have seven abortions." She hung up.  
  
Logan hung the receiver up carefully, then unsheathed his claws. It would be easy, so easy, to cut that phone in half. The table it was sitting on, too. And the whole room. But he couldn't. He couldn't cut up the room or even just the phone. He had to settle for five or six angry punches to the air. When he was finished he stood there, panting. He never panted, but he was panting now. Finally, once he had mostly caught his breath again, he called out, "Professor!" He knew from experience that even if Chuck didn't hear him the normal way, he would pick up on him.  
  
When the Professor spoke into his mind, asking what the problem was, he described it in as few words as possible. It made Chuck nervous enough that he came down to talk to Logan in person.  
  
"This is not something to be taken lightly," said the Professor as he rolled into the room. "Jean has informed me of your plan to leave, but with this news I must ask you to postpone that. I do not know how much of a danger these people will represent, but if they truly consider it their duty to destroy mutants then we must not let them gain access to this school. If necessary the X-Men will defend it with their full power."  
  
Logan didn't answer. As far as he was concerned none of the others had to bother; he would be happy to shred all of the bastards by himself. He turned around to walk back to his room, but the Professor stopped him.  
  
"Before you go anywhere, there is someone who would like to meet you."  
  
Now even Chuck was in on it? "Not again."  
  
"You have never met him before."  
  
That surprised Logan, but it didn't make him feel much better. He still wasn't in any mood to be meeting anyone new.  
  
"His name is Doctor Henry McCoy."  
  
"The doctor? He's here?"  
  
"Yes. And if you wouldn't mind..." He signaled for Logan to follow and started down the hall. When they got to the hidden elevator that led to the basement the Professor turned and left.  
  
Logan had a bad feeling about this meeting. Why the big deal? Why did he have to go down to the lower levels to meet the guy? And, more importantly, was there any possibility that this wasn't related in some way to all this recent crap about hordes of kids?  
  
He got out of the elevator where it stopped, on sublevel 2. He didn't see any doctors so he started walking. Not long after, he heard the guy and then smelled him in quick succession. What he smelled made no sense, so he hurried to the source and looked with his own eyes. They confirmed what he had smelled: the new doctor was an animal. Or at least he looked like one. A big blue one.  
  
"Greetings," said the blue guy, "The Wolverine, I presume?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Wonderful. Allow me to introduce myself: Dr. Henry McCoy, or the Beast, if you prefer. I specialize in mutant genetics, and when Charles told me about you and your curious condition I decided I had to come and see you for myself. I have already devised a few little tests that should clarify certain aspects of the issue."  
  
So he was right; it was about the recent crap. Everything was. "Sorry, uh...Doc. I'm leaving. Soon. I won't be around for you to do your tests on me."  
  
The big blue doctor looked surprised. "Well, that is unfortunate. Not to worry, however, there are tests I can do in your absence. I will merely require a small sample from you."  
  
"Of...blood?"  
  
"No." He paused. "But don't worry, I will be sure to destroy the sample as soon as I am finished with the tests." He looked thoughtful for a second or two. "Of course, it might fetch a fair price at a sperm bank."  
  
It took Logan a second to understand, but once he did he could feel his breathing speed up and his eyes bulge a bit. He wondered how hard it would be for him to kill the big blue doctor now.  
  
"It is a joke, Logan. Simply bring the sample to me before you leave. Today, if possible."  
  
Logan left the room without another word. He didn't feel like testing his self-control at the moment. He headed straight for his room, hoping to be able to get a little more sleep, but he didn't even make it that far before Jeannie stopped him.  
  
"Not now, Jeannie."  
  
"Sorry, Logan. I know I lot has happened since yesterday, but there is one more thing you have to do before we go."  
  
"Only one?"  
  
"Well, only one right now. You have to call Marcie Herbert."  
  
"Marcie...the one with 16 kids?"  
  
"Yes. You have to call her and tell her what happened."  
  
"No way. I'm finished with the phone for today."  
  
"Well, you have to contact her. So unless you want to fly over and talk to her in person it will have to be over the phone."  
  
"Sure. I'll fly over there after I retrace my cage circuit."  
  
"No, Logan. Now. According to her website she's been looking for you for a long time."  
  
"Why? 'Cause she wants me to take some of those kids, that's why. And I ain't gonna."  
  
"She doesn't want you to take any of her kids. And if she does then you have to explain that you're in New York and it's not possible. She probably just wants to hear your voice."  
  
"Would that be enough for you?"  
  
Red frowned.  
  
"No, I'm serious. If One-Eye left you, would a phone call from him be enough for you?"  
  
"That's not the same."  
  
"Oh."  
  
She took the tone she always took when she was embarrassed but was trying not to be. "Look, Logan, at the least you have to let her know what happened. And if she wants to come here then you're not going to stop her."  
  
"Why not? Is it her right to see me? I broke it off."  
  
"Yes, it is her right to see you. She had 16 of your children."  
  
Logan pushed past her to get to his room.  
  
"Stop. Look, I don't care how you do it but you have to talk to her, and it has to be today. She deserves to know."  
  
He stopped but didn't turn around.  
  
"What if she just wants you to have your share of the recognition for the world record?"  
  
He whipped around. Red was smiling, trying not to laugh.  
  
"There could be prize money."  
  
Once again Logan bit back a sarcastic comment because it was Jeannie.  
  
She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him, using her power to help with his heavy frame, to a phone. She opened his hand and placed a slip of paper with a phone number in it. "I'll guard the door for you." She walked out and closed the door behind her.  
  
Logan looked from the paper to the phone, then back at the door. How was he supposed to do this? 'Hey, Woman-I-Don't–Remember, I'm a mutant and part of my power is to get women pregnant for the rest of their lives'? 'I hope you had fun back then, because the result was 16 kids...or probably more like 24 or 28, for you'? Could he make it sound like it was her fault somehow? 'That's just how hard we went at it, baby.' He let the piece of paper fall to the floor and sat down.  
  
"I don't hear any talking!" came Jeannie's muffled voice from the other side of the door.  
  
"She's not there!"  
  
"Damn it, Logan, dial the number!"  
  
He picked the piece of paper up off the floor and looked at it. Then he got up, picked up the receiver, and dialed the number. As it rang he tried to control his breathing.  
  
"Hello?" said a woman's voice uncertainly.  
  
Which one was this? Marcie Herbert. Okay. "Marcie?"  
  
"Yes. May I ask who's calling?"  
  
"Logan."  
  
"Logan who?"  
  
"...The Wolverine."  
  
There was silence at the other end of the line for several seconds. He hoped she had fainted or something.  
  
"Well..."  
  
"It's you," she whispered. Logan swore to himself. "You saw my website?"  
  
"Uh...something like that."  
  
She started speaking in a more normal voice. "So you know about...our kids."  
  
Logan only barely managed to avoid hanging up. He held the phone at arm's length and swung it around as if he were going to break it. Then he brought it back to his mouth. "Yes."  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"New York."  
  
"New York City? I've always wanted to go to New York City!"  
  
"No. ...What I mean is, I'm not in the City."  
  
"Oh. Well, what are you doing now? Did you find a job there?"  
  
"Yes. But it's teaching at a high school, not the best pay."  
  
"Well I think that's great." She laughed. "Imagine, the Wolverine teaching high school kids. They must think you're great."  
  
Logan was completely caught by surprise. "Well, yeah, sometimes."  
  
"So...our kids. They're four years old now, you know that? There's Billy, Grant, Maggie, and Lisa. They're quadruplets."  
  
"...About that...it's not only the four." Logan couldn't believe the words actually came out of his mouth.  
  
"What? What do you mean?"  
  
"It's all of them, not just the first four."  
  
"How could it be all of them? We...well, I haven't seen you for four years."  
  
"I know." How to say it? "Remember how when I was in the cage I was never hurt for real long?"  
  
"Of course. It's what made you Wolverine."  
  
"Well, no...but anyway, that's because my body is real good at healing itself. And your...the kids have the same thing."  
  
"You're telling me!"  
  
"Right. Well see, it wasn't only the kids."  
  
"What do you mean? What else was it?"  
  
"My...well, let's just say, as it turns out women have more than one kid with me."  
  
"You mean why I had four instead of one? Because that wasn't you; twins run in my family and I guess I got all the luck, in a manner of speaking."  
  
"No, that's not what I meant." Again he was tempted to hang up, but he settled for taking the mouthpiece away from his mouth and swearing.  
  
"Anyway, I was talking about our kids," said Marcie. "They're about ready to start school. Can you believe that? Pretty soon they'll be going through school and then there will be college and that's going to be really hard..." She stopped so he could jump in. He didn't. "Have you seen pictures of them?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh, you have to see them!"  
  
"Listen, I can't really get away from my job right now."  
  
"Too bad. But if you'll give me your e-mail I can send you some. You have to have pictures of them, at least."  
  
"I don't have one."  
  
"You don't have an e-mail account? What about your school account?"  
  
"Well, I don't remember it. I don't have a computer at home."  
  
"But what about announcements? Oh well, if you don't have one you don't have one." She paused. "I understand, I guess," she said dejectedly. "Is it another woman?"  
  
"What? No, I don't have an e-mail...thing. What other woman?"  
  
"It's fine. It's been four years, after all. Five. A guy like you can have any girl he wants. I get it. Well, your kids and I will just be here in Manitoba if you ever feel like visiting for any reason. Good bye."  
  
"Bye?"  
  
She hung up. Logan followed suit, confused. Well, he had called her. Not that he had been able to tell her much.  
  
The door opened again, and Jeannie was smiling as she entered. "So, are you done?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"How'd it go?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
"So you told her?"  
  
Logan didn't answer right away.  
  
"You didn't tell her." She slapped her hand to her forehead. "Why not?"  
  
"I tried! She wouldn't listen to me. She kept talkin' about 'our kids' and then she got pissed and hung up."  
  
Now Jeannie was starting to look pissed also. "I think I know what happened."  
  
"But look, she seems to be doin' all right. She didn't ask for any money."  
  
"Call her back."  
  
"Jeannie, no. She won't listen to me now anyway." He muttered to himself, "They never do."  
  
"She has to know."  
  
"She already knows they have the healin' ability, so what's the problem?"  
  
"I'm not even going to answer that."  
  
"She's not gonna let it go, I can tell. When I tell her she's gonna insist on comin' here and she's gonna be a real pain in the ass. She got pissed 'cause she thought I was seein' another woman. Like she's my wife or something."  
  
"You made the mess, Logan; you'll clean it up."  
  
"But I didn't know."  
  
"You're worse than the kids, you know that? Same thought process with 1000 times the consequences."  
  
"I'm worse than the kids now? Jeannie, what do you want me to tell her? Fine, I'll tell her there'll only ever be one woman for me." He looked at her meaningfully.  
  
Her anger turned to surprise. Then her eyes opened wide and she exclaimed, "So you did!"  
  
"Huh? Did what?"  
  
"You did tell Ettie you love her."  
  
"What the hell are you talkin' about?"  
  
"Only one woman. Ettie's been annoying me all day with her thoughts, and I've heard a complaint or two from the telepathic students, too. So you really did say something to her."  
  
"No I didn't. What's she thinkin'?"  
  
"Basically that you and she are getting married. And even more disturbing images."  
  
"I didn't say a damn thing to her."  
  
"Are you sure? Even if you didn't say anything outright?"  
  
"Yes I'm sure."  
  
"Did you flirt with her?"  
  
"No." Why the hell did he still have to deal with Ettie? He was trying to figure out newer problems now. Much bigger problems.  
  
"You must have done something."  
  
"Why? Why is it always my fault?"  
  
"Because that's who you are, Logan."  
  
"You're the mind-reader; you go over to her and figure out what happened."  
  
"I don't want to get near her."  
  
"Me neither."  
  
The two of them just stood, looking at each other. Logan was just cooking up a good way to calm Jeannie down when a noise distracted him. It was the sound of a plane, a lot closer than they usually came. And it was coming even closer.  
  
"Do you hear that?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The plane."  
  
"What? Oh, yeah, I do, barely."  
  
They turned and walked out to figure out what was going on. By now it was so close that it had to have been landing around the Mansion somewhere.  
  
"It's them," said Jeannie suddenly.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"I just spoke with the Professor. It's Leanna and a couple of others." She blinked. "And they just landed."  
  
The noise had stopped, so Logan had to believe her about that last sentence. He preferred not to believe her about the previous one.  
  
"Ororo just went down to invite them in," said Jeannie.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you have to talk to Leanna. And you have to meet somebody she brought with her. Her oldest son. It sounds like he's eight, so he's probably your oldest son also. Hopefully, anyway."  
  
"Wait, I have to meet one who can talk?"  
  
"Yep. You better have something good to say." 


	5. Nick Ingersen

"No, you can't get out of this. Logan, you're acting like a little kid."

For some reason that kind of insult just didn't bother him anymore.

"Don't tell me you're doing this on purpose. It won't help you, you know; the kid won't think any less of you. If you were to act like an adult, on the other hand, he might decide that he prefers to have a father now instead of being mad at you over the past eight or nine years."

"That's what I don't want, Jeannie."

"Logan, you can't pretend he doesn't exist. Think of the kids here at the school. Most of them had at least one parent who refused to accept them because of their mutations. In a way this is worse, if you won't even accept his existence."

"I just don't see how his existence has anything to do with me."

Jeannie chuckled.

"You know what I mean." He paused. "Let him be mad at me at home in Saskatoon."

"I don't understand how you can not care about him. He's your son."

A shiver ran down Logan's spine.

"They are inside now. Would you like to meet them downstairs or would you like them to meet you in your room?"

There was no easy escape upstairs, so that was no solution. "I'll go down to meet 'em."

"Good."

Unfortunately, she decided to follow him closely. Eventually they ended up in the great room, where he saw a girl he instantly recognized. "Leanna." He was amazed at how young she looked. She could easily have been 21 or 22.

"Hi, Wolverine. It's been a long time."

"Yeah."

Leanna held her hands out, as if to show that there was no one next to her. "See? I even managed to get rid of John. My bodyguard, I guess you could say. He thinks he is, at least."

Logan just looked at her. He was glad that her son wasn't with her, but he still had nothing to say to her.

"Not that he could lay a finger on you if you did something to me, eh?" She sounded…nostalgic.

"So, how's the cult leader gig?"

Leanna blushed a little. "I'm going to hell fore sure, aren't I? At the time it was all I could think of to do. Better than everybody thinkin' I'm a whore."

Maybe talking about that wasn't such a good idea. "At least you have your own plane now."

Leanna nodded. "But I feel really bad about it, though. I don't know many thousands of dollars I got in donations. I'd rather have stayed with you." She smiled.

Incredibly, Logan was not creeped out. Something about the way she said it; it was more sad than anything else. Like she wished it could have happened but also accepted that it hadn't and never would.

"I can understand, though. You didn't need some stupid little girl hanging off of you."

"And there was no way you knew you were pregnant that fast."

She laughed. "You'd think so, eh? But I did, somehow. I was right."

"Look…" he said, then stopped. He couldn't say it.

"Look at what?"

"I…I…I'm sorry." He was surprised to hear the words actually come out. "For threatening you."

She shrugged. "It was killing you, the fighting. I could tell. I thought I could help you. You never had anybody fight for you."

Another shiver ran down Logan's spine, and he felt his blood run a little hotter. What did that mean? Of course no one had fought for him; he was the Wolverine. He didn't need anyone to fight for him.

"Anyway, I still want you to meet my son. Just a second." She walked out, and Logan let out a puff of breath.

"Thank you," said Jeannie from behind him, scaring the hell out of him. He had somehow managed to forget she was there. Maybe he was getting used to her scent.

"For what?" he asked, in more of a grunt than actual words.

"For apologizing. I can tell it means a lot to her."

Before Logan could come up with a response, Leanna was back, and she wasn't alone. She had a boy with her, one who was sickeningly familiar. The boy was staring at him as he walked in the room and he didn't stop even when Leanna spoke. "This is Nick. Look at that resemblance, eh?"

The boy was still staring at him. He felt the need to say something, just to stop the brat from staring. "Hi there, kid."

The boy blinked, then took a step forward. Logan watched carefully as the boy looked him up and down, then pulled back his fist and punched Logan in the gut and ran. It didn't hurt, not compared to his claws coming out, for example, but it was a little surprising. "Uh…"

"Go after him," said Jean.

"Sorry about that," said Leanna, "And after I finally got John to leave." She started toward the door in the direction that her son went off in. Logan glanced at Jean and followed.

Ettie appeared in the doorway before Leanna could make it out. She looked from Logan to Leanna to Jean, and then back to Leanna. "Who's this?" the question was directed to Logan, but she had to look around Leanna to do it.

Logan froze. Any kind of fight would be the last straw. Horrible visions flashed through his mind of hundreds of women and children all pulling on him from different sides. Then Jeannie appeared behind him and pushed him gently forward. "Ettie, come in. Leanna, why don't you let Logan go talk to Nick?"

There was a long pause, and then both women turned and walked to Logan, who went directly around them and out the door. Amazingly enough, no one followed him as he made his way to the nearest side door.

He felt a rush of relief to be in the fresh air, in the sunlight. He wondered if he wouldn't be better off just getting out of there and starting over. He could probably sneak in through a different door to collect his stuff and get out.

He forced himself not to hurry, so he wouldn't be suspicious. On any given Monday afternoon there would a mass of the younger kids outside playing.

He made it all the way to the first corner of the Mansion when he was forced to stop. Around the corner, about 40 feet away, was Nick. From the back he didn't look quite as much like Logan, but there was still something too familiar about him.

He was watching seven of the younger kids playing basketball. He was standing on the sidelines, motionless.

Logan didn't even think of leaving, of going around the Mansion the other way. He stood and watched as Nick stood and watched the game.

It happened so quickly. One of the other boys walked up to Nick and within seconds he was on court and playing also. Logan managed to continue to watch for ten or twenty seconds, until Nick got the ball and started dribbling. Then Logan went into an uncontrollable coughing fit and fell back against the wall, his head spinning.

The boy was at the Mansion, playing with the others. When he closed his eyes the whole Mansion was overrun with them, all looking like him.

It had begun.

He released his claws, just so that the pain would cut through his dizziness. He felt it working, so he did it again.

"Is something wrong?" he heard someone call. It was one of the younger girls, Heather.

He looked in the direction of the call and saw three girls staring at him with wide eyes. "Nope. Fine." He pulled his claws back in again and gave them a little wave to make them go away.

"So there you are," said another voice, a much more menacing one, as its owner came around the corner where _he_ was probably still playing.

"What do you want, Jubilee?"

"I thought you were coming out here to set things right with your son, not yell at the younger students." She had her most annoying smile on her face.

"Right now I think I'd rather wipe that smile off your face."

"Well, why don't you come inside first; your girlfriends want to talk to you."

He stared at her. It was a joke. Just another stupid Jubilee joke to make him nervous.

"Come on." She motioned for him to follow her.

"Get out of here."

"No, I'm serious. Both of them want to talk to you. It was funny, actually. At first they were just kind of talking, but after a couple of minutes…" She trailed off, then made a hissing noise and swiping motion with her hand. Then she laughed. "Funny."

Logan just stood there. No way it was true.

"Rogue tried to help. She brought out the version of you in her head, from when you touched her those times, and she started talking to them."

"Now you're just making crap up. She wouldn't."

Jubilee smiled evilly. "Yes she would. She explained to Ettie that you had forgotten all about her." She paused. "Oh yeah, and she explained to Leanna that you have thought of her ever since and proclaimed your eternal love for her."

Logan's heart was racing now. It wasn't true. He slowly turned and walked back to the side door. He would check. It wasn't true, but he would check anyway.

When he got back to the great room the only ones left were Marie and Kitty. "Rogue, what did you say to Ettie and Leanna?"

She looked surprised. "I just told them what you remembered about them."

Logan could feel his body temperature rising. His claws felt hot. "Why?" he asked, his teeth completely clenched.

"Ettie was being a bitch." She shrugged.

Images started playing across his vision. Violent images, most of which featured his claws slashing through milky white flesh. "And what exactly did you say to Leanna?"

"Like I said, I told her what you remembered about her. She said she was happy to hear it."

Logan stormed out, and it was a good thing; there was no way he would have lasted much longer without destroying something. And if that thing was Marie he would not have able to live with himself.

What she said to Ettie wasn't that bad; if he was lucky she would get completely pissed at him and he'd never have to deal with her again. But what she said to Leanna? He couldn't forgive that. Not to mention the fact that she got the two of them hating each other, most likely.

"Logan," said Jeannie, as she caught up to him in the hallway.

"No. No more."

"Did you find Nick?"

"No."

"Too bad. I managed to get Ettie and Leanna talking while you were out. Ettie was getting very jealous. She saw both of us as threats."

Logan's expression must have said something to the good doctor, because she looked at him and immediately continued.

"They were perfectly civil, until Rogue came in. She was only trying to help. Well, maybe. She likes Leanna. So do the others."

"They're probably the same age," he muttered.

"She's not much older, it's true. She's 24."

"You weren't supposed to be able to hear that."

"Telepathy. What can I say?"

"Can I leave now?"

"Not before you find Nick."

Logan let out a low growl.

"He obviously has emotional issues that he needs to get over and you have to be the one to help him."

"He looked fine to me," he growled.

"Logan, help him."

"They're just leaving again anyway. Then they'll be all the way over there in Saskatchewan. I won't have to go near them ever again."

Jeannie looked at him hard. "Until you retrace your cage circuit."

"Bye, Jeannie." He turned to walk away.

"Don't do this, Logan. Don't make me bring the others into this."

He whirled back around to look at her.

She looked like she was about to cry. "You're a good man, Logan. I know you are. Do this for his sake."

"Now don't start trying that shit on me."

He walked away, muttering that he should never have gotten himself involved with women in the first place.

Just before he finally got back to the basketball court where he had last seen Nick, he had an unshakable feeling that he had entered a new phase of his life, one that would last the rest of his life. And there was no telling how long that would be.

When he turned the corner, Nick was lying on his back on the pavement, panting. Three of the other boys were panting too. It looked like they had been in a fight.

Then Logan heard a shocking sound. Nick laughed at loud. "That's the first time I ever been beat. You guys are pretty good."

"Thanks," said Zach Mench sarcastically, "that means a lot coming from a six-year-old."

He stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm eight. And not just any eight-year-old."

"Yeah, you're a mini Mr. Logan."

Logan froze. Zach was right. The brat was so much like him. Everything about him. Everything except the claws.

The brat puffed. "I don't need that jerk. You shoulda heard my mom talking about him, like he's so great. So he could beat people up. I could take him."

The boys all around him laughed and made fun of him. That reassured Logan.

"He's right over there, you know," said Will Connelly, pointing straight at Logan, "Prove it."

"Fine."

Logan put a hand to his forehead. Was this kid serious? He walked over to the basketball court. "Settle down, kid."

The brat stared at him with cold hatred.

"Look, don't even try it." He released his claws, just to give the kid a scare.

Apparently it worked. His mouth fell open and he tripped over backwards. He stared for a long time. When he finally spoke he stuttered. "Th…th…that's so…crazy. How…?"

"And you hafta see him usin' 'em!" shouted one boy exuberantly.

"They can cut through anything!" shouted another.

"But…whoa," muttered Nick. He stood up, his eyes never leaving the claws. Then a huge smile broke out slowly over his face. "That's so cool! I have to tell John about those!" He turned and ran off.

"John?" asked Zach.

"Ah crap," said Logan.

As it turned out, Nick didn't know where John was, so he ended up chasing the brat all around the Mansion grounds. They finally found the man on the bank of the pond, talking to Ororo.

"John, John, you have to see this!" yelled Nick as they approached.

"My dad has claws!"

Logan tripped and fell on his face.

"What is going on?" asked Ororo.

"My question exactly!" asked a voice Logan had to assume belonged to John.

"You have to see him do it!" insisted Nick. Logan picked himself up and found that Nick was pulling on the man's arm and pointing. "They're made of metal and they're like a foot long! They come out of the back of his hand!"

John's expression was of confusion at first, but slowly it changed, and Logan didn't like where it ended up. It was an expression of hatred. "Is it true? Are you a mutant?"

Logan seriously considered mentioning that Nick was also, but instead he settled for releasing his claws.

In answer John reached into his shirt, pulled out a small handgun, and pointed it at Logan. "Demon, what have you done to my Lady?"

"There is no need to do this," said Ororo from John's side. Her eyes weren't going white, however. "No one need be harmed here."

"Someone has already been harmed by your foul tricks!" said John, staring at Logan.

"What are you doing?" asked Nick.

"Quiet! You are no more than the seed of this creature! My Lady told me!"

That apparently made Nick mad. He stepped forward and punched John in the stomach, knocking the gun aside. Logan utilized this break, stepped forward, and sliced through the barrel of the gun, barely missing the man's fingers. The man screamed and ran.

"That was pretty good. You okay?" Logan said to Nick as the figure of John got smaller and smaller.

"Course," he said with puff. Then he looked back at Logan's claws, which were still out. "Those are so cool. Am I gonna get those some day?" he asked hopefully.

Logan pulled the claws back in and frowned. "No. And you wouldn't want to."

"Fine," said Nick, frowning deeply. "I don't need you anyway."

"Damn brat," muttered Logan.

"He is merely at that age," said Ororo, "later…" She did not finish her sentence.

Later he would become a man, and his siblings would be teenagers. And Ettie's children would also be teenagers. And the 16 kids of that other woman, Marcie.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Ororo, "You look ill."


	6. Elena Pedre

When Logan got inside, the Professor motioned him back into the great room, where there was a small panel waiting for him.

"Marcie Herbert's looking for donations for a plane ticket to come here," said Jean.

"Leanna's companions are on their way and will be here within two hours," said the Professor.

"I still require a sample from you," said the blue doctor Logan couldn't remember the name of.

"I talked to Scott and you and I can retrace your cage circuit," said Jean.

Logan turned around and walked out again.

"Logan!" yelled Jean behind him.

"I'm just goin' to lie down." She kept following him. "You comin' to bed with me?"

She didn't laugh. In fact, he thought he smelled a little more blood on her, meaning she was mad again. "We still need to talk."

He ignored her and walked to his room. When he got there he fell onto his bed, knowing that he wouldn't get any rest but not caring.

"We were just discussing what we do when Leanna's followers arrive. Leanna she'll talk to them, but we have to be prepared for the possibility that she might not be able to convince them to stop. They will come after you specifically, and it is critical that we don't allow them to find out that the kids are mutants, too, so if you can lead them away…"

"Sure. I'll lead them wherever you want. You need me to run back to Saskatchewan?"

"Logan, listen to me. This is serious. We don't want to have to hurt these people."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about. Like hell I don't want to have to hurt these people. It'll be the best thing all week."

"If you won't cooperate we'll have to find another way to subdue the followers with minimal injury, and it will be more dangerous."

"I'll cooperate."

"So you won't attack them?"

Oh, he would definitely attack them. "No."

"Good."

"So, is…" Logan stopped. What was that sound? It was someone sneaking around outside his door, trying not to get heard.

"Logan?"

"Was that all?" he asked, still listening for signs of who was sneaking around. There. A sneeze. It was One-Eye, the asshole. Probably suspecting something with Jeannie in his room alone with him. As if it was a possibility at this point.

"No, unfortunately. As I mentioned before you left, Marcie Herbert is raising money to come here with her oldest four children. She has a new webpage up."

That was a much bigger threat than any group of militant mutant-haters coming for him. "What about it? You don't want me to give her the money."

"No, but the Professor could."

"He won't."

"Yes he would. And why shouldn't he? Think about what this woman has gone through. She deserves to see you if she wants."

It was the last thing he wanted to think about. "Great, so she can sit around and fight with Ettie and Leanna."

"You can explain the situation to her, and she won't."

"What the hell logic is that? Ettie and Leanna already knew when they started goin' at it."

"Logan, it's not like you to be a coward. You're being a coward."

There was no way Logan could possibly have described how mad he was in that moment. Part of it was the rage that filled him when she called him a coward. Part of it was his anger at the injustice of the whole situation. And part of it was a looming feeling of helplessness, which made him at least as mad as the insult did. What was he supposed to do, go back in time? Change his genes?

"Okay, I'm going. But we still have to sit down and find the women, and you still have to tell the ones we find." She left.

Logan wondered whether she could feel how mad he was. Either way it was much safer for her to be gone, that much was obvious. He closed his eyes and lay still.

The result was that he was completely relaxed and better able to hear when Scooter talked after the door closed behind Jean. "I'm guessing you're glad right now that you didn't fall for his charming tough-guy shtick."

He jumped off of his bed without another thought. Jean insulting him was one thing, but with One-Eye it was a completely different matter. And not only that but he insulted Jean, too, suggested she would have been unfaithful. He threw open the door and found the asshole only twenty or so feet down the hall, with Jeannie in front of him. He jumped at the asshole, letting out a primal growl. It felt so good to be able to pour out all of his rage, and toward somebody who deserved it.

Scooter whipped around and Logan smiled at the fear he suddenly smelled on his prey. It was all he had time to do, though, as he saw a flash of red light and found himself hitting the floor face down. Impossible. His prey got him. Rage…

"Aren't you awake yet? God."

Logan's head was buzzing and he couldn't figure out where he was or why. All he knew was that he was woken up by someone no one should ever have to be woken by: Jubilee.

"There he goes. How hard did Scotty hit him, anyway?"

He was on the pool table, in the pool room. Scooter had hit him with the red stare. He still couldn't believe it.

"I don't know, but if Logan was out for five hours it probably woulda killed anybody else." Amanda Carlson.

"Five hours?" His voice came out a mumble. Scooter had messed him up bad. Scooter. Messed him up. It just wasn't happening in his brain.

"Look outside. It's getting dark." Kitty Pryde. What a surprise, with the other two there.

"Yeah," said Jubilee, "Why are you hanging around here? You gotta go over and talk to Leanna."

"Did she leave?"

"No. And she's not gonna." Jubilee.

"She was so great. How can you not love her?" Kitty.

"He does." Jubilee. "Don't you? Rogue has you in her head and she said so."

"Get away from me. What is this?" He sat up and jumped off the pool table.

"Don't go." Kitty.

"You have to talk to her anyway. She saved your ass while you were sleeping." Amanda.

Logan was just starting to leave, but now he stopped. "Huh?"

"You missed it. She went out and talked to them, her followers. Then she came back and she all crying and everything. It was cute. I felt so sorry for her." Kitty.

"What Kitty means is she told them she's not the Virgin Mary and got them to leave." Jubilee.

"She didn't have to. She did it for you." Amanda.

So he didn't get to beat the crap out of them? Damn. Not only had he let himself get knocked out by One-Eye, but he couldn't even make himself feel better about it?

"At least go say thank you." Jubilee.

He had to thank her? Everything was slow to process. He had to thank her, because she had stood up to her followers for him. 'I thought I could help you. You never had anybody fight for you.' She was trying to fight for him. He shook his head, to clear it. But the girls thought he was refusing.

"Don't be a bastard." Amanda.

"Don't deny you love her." Jubilee.

"If you had seen her when she came back in you would." Kitty.

"No, Wolvie doesn't believe in stuff like feeling bad for other people." Jubilee. As if anyone else dared to call him that.

"Anyway she's not leaving now. She's staying here forever with Nick." Kitty.

"I told the Professor he could spare a room and have Leanna live with you." Jubilee.

"Who said they could stay here?"

"The Professor." Amanda. "She even said she wouldn't mind leaving since she's not a mutant, but the Professor told to her to stay."

"She'll prob'ly get a job like you." Kitty.

"I guess we don't have our cult leader position filled yet," said Logan, grimacing. He had thought at the beginning that they would move in, get jobs, and start fighting over him. Check, check, and check. He had thought that their kids would overrun the Mansion, and that everything was going to cost him. Those were started and the end was not in sight.

"Maybe she'll get your job; anybody could do it better than you." Jubilee.

"Logan?" called Jeannie's voice from the hall. Then she appeared in the doorway. "There you are. I've been looking for you. What are you doing in here? You still need rest."

"I don't know why I'm in here. I woke up here."

"What? We brought you to the infirmary."

Kitty and Jubilee were both grinning, Kitty sheepishly and Jubilee maliciously. Amanda was still frowning at Logan.

"Did you bring him here after I left?" asked Jean of the three of them.

"We figured you were busy so he might as well have somebody looking after him…" Jubilee trailed off.

Now Jeannie went to Logan and looked him up and down, apparently trying to figure out if they had done anything to him.

"What'd you do?" he asked.

Before any of them answered Jean pointed at something on his left arm. It was sticking partway out of his shirtsleeve, but when she pulled up his sleeve a little it was obvious what they had done. It was a heart, with Leanna's name inside. Jeannie reached down and wiped at it with her finger, and the ink came off. Logan rubbed the rest of it off quickly with his sleeve.

"What, you're in kindergarten? Drawin' on me while I'm out."

"I doubt that was pen," said Jeannie, "or at least not on the surface of the skin. I'm guessing it was a tattoo, or it would have been if not for your power. The ink didn't stay in the cuts as they healed, looks like."

Logan turned back toward Jubilee with some of the rage he had had before he had been knocked out. As if there was any doubt it had been her idea.

"Logan, let's go," she said, pulling at him. "We don't have time for that."

"Since when don't we have time to punish the students for pulling crap like this?"

"They'll be punished later. This is urgent."

"What is it?" asked Amanda.

"Logan," said Jeannie between her teeth.

"Alright, alright." He followed her out of the pool room. If they learned they could get away with crap like that, though, somebody was going to get his or her stomach region ventilated.

"It's Leanna's other children," said Jeannie quietly to him as she checked to see if the girls were listening. "They're back at her place in Saskatchewan, with a woman who sounds hostile. She says she knows you and she talked to you yesterday."

It took a few seconds for him to get it, but when he did he swore aloud. "Juanita's got her kids? They're done for."

"So she is hostile?"

"No, just a malicious bitch who doesn't give a damn about anybody but herself." He gave a low growl. "A couple of them are pretty old, right? Tell 'em to escape and forget about the young ones."

"Logan! You knew her, right? Help us."

"I'm giving you the best advice you can get. You don't wanna screw with Juanita."

"Logan, I'm serious."

"Fine. I'll talk to her. You just want to torture me, don't you?"

The place Jean was leading him turned out to be Chuck's office. When he entered Chuck looked up from the phone and motioned for him to come over to the desk. When he got there Chuck handed him the receiver.

"The safety of these five children is our highest priority," whispered Chuck.

"Hello," said Logan grimly once he got the receiver to his ear.

"So I guess little Leanna had to save you from the bad guys." It was definitely Juanita, and didn't have to be able to smell her to know she was feeling as malicious as ever. "I guess it's a good thing I got to her kids before the rest of the CTR did. You never know what they might have done to the little guys."

"Juanita, what are you doing? Give up the kids."

"Oh, Wolverine, you know how much I hate kids. Only problem is that I don't happen to have my own private plane like our Ex-Virgin Mother, and I also don't have the funds to send five kids to New York. Or even to get to an international airport." All of that might have been true, and knowing Juanita it probably was, but the way she said it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Chuck said he'd send it to you, I'm sure." It came out mostly as a growl.

"Oh, he said you all would come here yourselves and pick them up. But where would the fun be in that?"

"What do you want from me?"

"I think I already mentioned. What was it? I don't quite remember. Some money?"

"Juanita, you don't want to get into this. The money is not worth the crap you're getting yourself into here, holding the kids."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Malicious, too malicious for her to really mean it. What was she going to ask for? "Well, how about we make a little trade?"

"What?" This was even more of a growl.

"I'll give you an address, even one where you can land a plane nice and easy, and all you have to give me is all the time back I wasted with you and because of you. Either that or something of equal value."

"Juanita…"

"What's a good rate? How about one genuine cage fighter cojón for two kids? Seems pretty fair, doesn't it? Of course I guess that means you can only get four of the brats back, unless you to cut into some other flesh."

"No." There was no hesitation in his response.

"That's too bad. I guess I'm out of luck. You'll have no trouble letting our dear ex-Virgin Mother know why she's down to one brat, I'm sure."

"What are you going to do, Juanita? Take 'em with you? No way you could stand it. And not even you would let 'em bite it. That's multiple life sentences when they catch you."

"You obviously forget who you're talking to. I don't need to keep 'em or drop 'em. I know a couple of people who'd kill for five golden opportunities like these. So young, too. Two girls, they'll go for more, especially if they get their looks from little Leanna. Not as much if they end up with your ugly mug, but anyway…And the boys won't be too bad either, if they take after you at all. Maybe even more profitable than the girls, come to think of it."

Logan turned to look from Chuck to Jeannie to Ororo, who was also in the room, standing back.

"What's wrong?" asked Jeannie quietly.

"How about you let me talk to 'em," said Logan, trying to think of anything he could do to get them away from the bitch. A couple of them had to be old enough to fight back, right? Nick could have taken her. "Any kind of trade and I have to know they're still there and whole."

"Glad to hear you're open to trade."

"I don't hear them."

"Hold on. You thought I had them sitting on my lap and listening to my private conversations?" There was a pause for twenty or thirty seconds, during which time he realized his heart was beating about as fast as he had ever felt it beating. Then the evil voice came back. "Here you are. Baby Jesus."

He heard a small noise that sounded like a little kid's squeal. Then he heard faint breathing, and a faint mocking voice in the background, saying 'Talk to him, Dear Lord Jesus.'

"Dammit, Juanita, let me talk to one who can understand what's going on!"

"Guess he thought he was too good to talk to a sinner like you," said Juanita, picking up the phone again. Oh well." She put down the phone again.

"What's wrong?" repeated Jeannie.

"She's threatening to sell 'em. And knowing her she can find a place who'd buy 'em. She's asking for something that's kind of personal to me."

"You can't give it up?"

"No," he answered with a grimace.

"We will pay if we must," offered Chuck.

"We can also locate the children using Cerebro," offered Ororo.

"You better get on it," said Logan, "we're gonna end up tracking her down."

"Very well," said Chuck. He and Ororo left the room, leaving only Jeannie.

"Are you still there?" sang Juanita in her false-sweet voice.

"Lemme talk to one of the older ones."

"Okay. No need to be pushy." Still false-sweet.

He restrained himself from growling at her, not wanting the kid to be scared.

"Hello?" said a little girl's voice uncertainly.

"Hi there," he said, trying to remember how he was supposed to talk to little kids. Growling at them was not on the list, and not doing that was hard enough. "Is Juanita right there with you?"

"Um…yes."

"Can you…" he stopped. How the hell was he supposed to tell a little girl to take out Juanita? "Do you like her?" Maybe seeing where they stood was a better start.

"Um…no."

"Does she have something bad, like a weapon? A knife, or a gun, or something?"

"Um…uh huh."

"A gun?"

"Uh huh."

"Are all of you okay?"

"Kinda. She won't change the baby."

"Good. Now, can you…"

"Time's up," said Juanita. She had yanked the receiver back. "So we have a deal?"

He growled at her. "Yeah."

"When are you gonna be here with my fee?"

"10:00."

"Connors Field, outside of Saskatoon. Only you."

"I can't fly the jet. And it takes two to fly."

"I'm sure you'll manage. One comes. I don't care if it's you or not, long as they have my fee." She hung up without another word.

Logan dropped the receiver and swore out loud.

"What's happening? We have to go there?"

"She wants one person. I told her 10:00. We're gonna have to force her to give us the kids."

"We can all go, just in case."

"We'll all have to, but I'm out in front."

Jean nodded. "And the Professor can find the kids, if she doesn't have them with her."

Logan walked out, shaking his head. Jeannie followed after using her power to hang the receiver back up.

"I don't need any more surprises today."

"We can put off contacting the other women until tomorrow."

He growled low, then walked to the kitchen in silence. As he got himself something to eat for the first time since breakfast, he heard his name yelled from a long way off. It was one of the students, maybe Fred or one of the older ones. He decided he didn't want to be found and started eating.

It didn't work. After a minute or so Fred peeked in, saw him, and called to him again. "Logan. You have to see somebody."

"I don't have to see anybody."

"No, I mean you have to see her." His eyes were wide and he was smiling, as if he had seen his favorite celebrity or something.

"I definitely don't want to deal with any more women today."

"What are you talking about? She came here to see you and you won't even meet her? You don't know what you're missing."

"I can guess."

He let out an exasperated noise.

"She's got kids with her, right?"

"No. A woman like her? No way she's ever had kids."

He didn't believe it, and he was in no mood to appreciate a woman even if she wasn't another old fling back for blood.

"Fine." Fred left, and started to call out to somebody else this time.

He had only just finished his sandwich when Fred appeared again, and he understood just a split second early: the bastard had brought the woman to him.

"Mr. Logan?" asked a woman's voice, as a she pushed open the kitchen door and walked past Fred. She was tall, lower-mid 30's, dark brown hair. He might have been tempted to flirt with her if he had met her at a bar. "You are Mr. Logan, right?" She walked right up to him and looked him up and down.

"Who's askin'?"

"My name is Elena Pedre, and I'm a private investigator out of New York."

"You're a P.I.?" He huffed. She was the last person he could have seen as a P.I. They were middle-aged men with voyeuristic streaks who wanted a job setting up cameras in people's bedrooms and stuff like that. People who didn't have what it took to be detectives.

"I was hired by a man by the name of Emil Catala. Do you know him?"

The name didn't mean anything to him, but he didn't trust anyone would be hiring a P.I. to find him.

"Well, he knows you. He sounds like he has some kind of grudge against you, as a matter of fact."

"Why you tellin' me, if he hired you?"

"He hired me, but he doesn't own me. It is partially my responsibility if someone I'm hired to find is harmed in any way by one of my clients."

Whoever this Catala guy was, there was no way he going to harm the Wolverine. Especially not now. In fact, he thought a tough or two showing up at his door might be pretty refreshing right about now. Unless they showed up while he was out tangling with Juanita. And with his luck, that would be what would happen. "Who is he?"

"I can't give you much information. It's my suspicion, though, that you've had dealings with him in the past, or else he wouldn't be looking for you. If I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do with his wife. He's overprotective of her."

"What's her name?"

"Sarah Denise Catala."

He stared at the lanky P.I. "Sarah Denise. Sarah Denise Catala." It was Sarah Denise. He didn't think he'd ever hear her name again.

"Old girlfriend?"

"Something like that." She had been the best lay in all his cage days. He still remembered those three weeks vividly. He was a king in that town. Or he was until the day Sarah Denise had showed up and told him he had to leave. Her husband had found out. He would have been fine gutting the bastard and anybody else who would have come after him, but she wouldn't let him. For whatever reason he let her talk him out of it. He left. He told himself it was better that way than to be wanted for murder. Probably was, too.

"My hunches tend to be pretty good."

"So what, he's gonna get back at me now? A little late."

"I got the impression he was looking locally until a couple of days ago. I got the call yesterday."

"So tell him you couldn't find me."

She smiled. It was the kind of smile that would have made half the men in any bar hit on her. "I'll lose half my commission if I don't get back to him tonight."

"Half your commission?" He chuckled. He was tempted to let them come, but he knew Chuck wouldn't be happy with it. Too close to the kids. Unprofessional. Not okay. "Some mercenary. So you'll take your money, then when he shows up you'll call the cops?"

Her smile got wider. "Something like that. Don't worry, I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

He laughed. "_You_ won't let anything happen to me?" He paused. "So why'd you come here? What makes you think I wasn't gonna let something happen to you?"

"I can take care of myself. And a guy like you? You wouldn't do anything."

He shook his head. "You trust your hunches too much."

"Is that a threat?" She was obviously trying to flirt with him now. She had no idea what she was getting herself into.

"Get out of here, before I prove you wrong."

"I know _that_'s a threat." She was getting closer to him now.

"What the hell are you doing? You think you can sweet-talk something outta me? You don't wanna play that game, believe me."

She backed off. "Fine. I'll call you later, if I find out Catala is coming here."

He waved her away. He was in no mood for that. All the better if Catala did send somebody down to rough him up. Did people do that anymore? He hoped so. He needed some exercise.


End file.
